2008 & 2020: The Combination That Changed Capitalism Forever [Yanis Varoufakis]

As protests erupt on the streets of America and the world, current power structures no longer feel tenable. Can this popular uprising break the neoliberal grip on the state and create lasting structural change that will empower the disenfranchised?
Join us as the Former Finance Minister of Greece and founder of the Democracy in Europe Movement 25 (DiEM25) explores what a restructured economic and political landscape might look like in a post pandemic era, and what it would take to harness state power in service of the masses rather than corporations.
Yanis Varoufakis is an economist, philosopher, and politician. He is a member of the Hellenic Parliament, Secretary-General of MeRA25, co-founder of DiEM25, and the former finance minister of Greece. Together with Bernie Sanders he co-founded Progressive International, to unite progressives around the world. He has taught economics at the University of Cambridge and the University Texas, Austin, and is the author of several books, including Adults in the Room, And The Weak Suffer What They Must, and The Global Minotaur.

[@michaelcroft3032]

"The crisis consists precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot be born; in this interregnum a great variety of morbid symptoms appear." Gramsci

[@GJ-dj4jx]

The old is dying by controlled demolition, and the new will be controlled as well.

[@partickaljamested5146]

wow! nice find!

[@ratulxy]

Lol he occasionally leans forward to let us know that he is not bald.

[@MrSp0iler]

USSR had no inflation look how it ended up- torn apart from outside and inside by angry capitalists and locals in soviet block that live worse than in USSR

[@GJ-dj4jx]

@@klam77 they've already made their plan public, and it's called the Great Reset. They have dressed it up as some environmental utopia, when in reality it's a Technocracy, total control corporate global government nightmare.

[@abrak.1572]

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your words, Yanis! «It is a gross error to imagine that we live in a world of the Americans against the Chinese, the Europeans against the Senegalese. No! This is a class war that is raging in every country, and the oligarchies without frontiers are very united in this. So, to my friend in Senegal: Your oligarchy are on very good terms with our oligarchy here in Greece, with the German oligarchy, with the American oligarchy. They have bonds of solidarity that I only wish the rest of humanity had.» Dear members of the human family, dear awakening and awakened people, "the rest of humanity" comprises ~ 99% of the world's population and we finally should show true solidarity across all borders, network and join us in a peaceful revolution against the ridiculous 1% of oligarchs/plutocrats! We are MANY, we are the overwhelming MAJORITY, we are TOO MANY TO FAIL!

[@richardgalea9884]

Abra K. .....We fail because we have too many fools within....

[@NS-pj8dr]

YES!!!

[@bertiefox5410]

Unfortunately, 99% of the 99% would rather watch Netflix.

[@Anita-md9ze]

Bertie Fox smacks head, such sad truth.

[@Natallou55]

lovely words. We have no time for cynicism!!!

[@richardwilliamson1639]

Yanis is THE economist for our age! He taught at my alma mater University of Texas, though it was after my time there. Thanks to KZbin, I get to hear his lectures. He is bringing back the Golden Age of Greek philosophy!

[@TheKoderius]

And that accent :)

[@cheekoandtheman]

Every crisis its Janis Varufakis that gives me the greatest insights of what's going on

[@ycanionlyevafind1sok]

Yep. Yanis and Mark Blyth.

[@MrSp0iler]

All those talking they dont have money are like Africa that no matter how much money it had it would either be same or spend it indefinately until its broke

[@Achrononmaster]

Except he has not really grokked MMT. Nor has Mark Blyth. A much better analysis of the eurozone is given by Bill Mitchell here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jqjNi6KwhJ58q6s

[@cheekoandtheman]

@@Achrononmaster as Greek finance minister standing up to the troika he got to see the inner workings very few do

[@ycanionlyevafind1sok]

@@Achrononmaster Yep, liked that a lot. Also found L. Randall Wray to be very good. I have heard Blyth say there were issues with MMT but he didn't go into it at the time as he was talking about something else, so I'd love to hear what he has to say about it

[@dubchile]

I have only just discovered Mr Veroufakis. Its early days yet but I like him. I dont like what he's saying, it scares the living shy-e out of me but I do believe he knows his onions and I'm going to follow him closely from this day forward. More power to the elbow Janis, thank you

[@irisyauinternational1802]

“Just because you are strong, does not mean that you have the rights to crash the weak” 👍 #ethics

[@joelwest5396]

Much love and respect Yanis.

[@blawrencem3942]

So very very nice to hearing sense spoken again. Thank you Yanis. More like you in politics and the world would be so much better off. THANK YOU!

[@WiseandVegan]

The world would be also much better if most of the people watched this short animation video and behaved in according to the wisdom of it (to be shared): kzbin.info/www/bejne/e33NmIepbKd5eZY

[@truedarklander]

Yanis, not Yanice lol, but gg

[@1m2rich]

Someone has to the teacher and we need his experience and sense.

[@deweywatts8456]

To continue to think humans in power will do the right thing, is to ignore every war and every response to crisis.

[@margaritamendezmarimon3304]

humans or psychopat individuals?

[@davidcripps3011]

Watching so many stupid humans through the pandemic, I'm very pessimistic about our chances when global warming really bites.

[@davidcripps3011]

@ What!

[@notMattGarska]

Yeah the issues might be humans. Can't even get people to wear a mask in a fucking pandemic.

[@davidcripps3011]

@@notMattGarska Exactly!

[@jaggynettles8382]

Thank you for taking the time and care in understand that not everyone understands economics , and explaining in such simple terms so as person like me can have a better understanding how economics work. I have a growing appetite for more information now about how the economies of this world work , thanks to people like you guys. 🙏🙏🙏.

[@aramsimsar9459]

Asset prices are completely disconnected from reality. Housing prices in my area have gone up during the pandemic. I think the last time I checked Blackstone owned around 20,000 houses in Phoenix.

[@varunraj3078]

LLCool Jay Jingoism is alive!

[@dixsusu]

@LLCool Jay Its the Great Wealth Transfer . Done by capitalists , no matter if right or left side ...

[@aramsimsar9459]

LLCool Jay honestly I have come to terms with the fact that it may not be a plan but human nature. Humans for whatever reason seem to shift from relative equality to feudalism. Most wealthy people I know pit people against each without conscious awareness.

[@Screaming-Trees]

@@aramsimsar9459 The thing is though human nature, and I assume by this you mean some sort of essential, intrinsically existing, all pervasive, such-ness or essence that is not subject to change, is simply untenable. Everything is subject to change. This much is immediately evident even in superficial analysis. The contributing force that shifts the collective away from egalitarianism to feudalism is much more likely to be ignorance. There has been a war on the mind, in a modern sense, since Edward Bernays if you think about it. Even the intelligent have been affected by it. Look at yourself for example. You come across as intelligent and levelheaded however you insist on something clearly problematic; i.e. human nature. And I don't mean even a single iota of disrespect with that. I'm not at all trying to call you out or school you in some way. I'm just trying to point out, in a very blunt way, that the war on the mind has taken casualties and I do think you'll find that to be a far more likely culprit than something so nebulous as the "human nature" concept.

[@kotenoklelu3471]

Maybe you should wait until moratorium on evictions will stop

[@joaomiguel6220]

This is so true. There is an absolute disconnection between real estate value and income levels for majority of the population. And this discrepancy has been increasing over and over. Yanis is right. I have been working so hard for the last 15 years, and there is no way I can afford to buy a house because the cost of rents and transportation is incredibly high compared to people's salaries. Most of my salary goes off to pay the bills, I hardly manage to save anything. I do not even own a car or motorbike.

[@kylieisola4735]

Always, so good to hear Yanis tell it like it is. I am deeply grateful for his voice.

[@bhangrafan4480]

Points he is missing: these financial flows from the early 1980s were all about globalisation. Globalisation was all about capitalists maximising the returns on their international investments by exploiting global variations in local relative scarcities of resources, a kind of international division of labour. Seeking out energy, materials and labour where they are cheapest and selling the products and services produced where they are more expensive. The profits were recycled through NY and the City of London via multinationals repatriating profits and bond and asset sales to foreigners. The result was the tertiarisation of the economies of former western industrial powers. We all had misgivings about exporting manufacturing jobs, but it was difficult for most of us to put a finger on why. With hindsight we see that the secondary sector has more dynamism (meaning greater potential for productivity growth) than the tertiary sector (meaning retail, personal services, hospitality, catering, leisure and tourism etc.) This seen in the down grading of the job market. There are fewer upper level jobs and many very low level jobs; drivers, warehouse workers, nail technicians, bar staff, waiters etc., with little prospect of advancement. Practically 'dead end' jobs. As productivity growth stagnates so the real standard of living stagnates too. Trump was elected to try to reverse this process (rather late) by adopting a more nationalistic economic policy aiming to promote domestic production as opposed to offshore production and to repatriate manufacturing jobs to the US. COVID hits the tertiary sector worst off all, so it chokes the flows of revenues needed to sustain very large numbers of these low grade jobs.

[@johnleebold8894]

Very good summary.... Trumps efforts to bring manufacturing back will partially help rebalance but the large Western Companies ( eg Apple, Electronic or all sorts, Automaker’s, Textiles and Clothing, Components, Steel and so on ) have so much Invested in the cheap labour of not only China but most of the large Developing Nations ie India Indonesia Thailand Brazil etc.. it is a folly to think to think America or Western European Countries can untie these multinational corporations from their dependence on these hugely profitable hubs and to throw away the investments they have in these supply chains

[@cambriawellness3102]

@@johnleebold8894 yes, it's true, slave labor is more profitable than respectable salaries/production, but it isn't right to steal oil, because you can, or mine diamonds with tyranny and child labor, or wipe out jungles for beef or palm oil, or monocroping of bananas, not to mention the Labor conditions or the relative salaries. Are the tariffs working to give the US some edge? I hope so, but I think there is a lot of backlash. I like the idea of cooperatives, and employee shares in a company. This should be encouraged abroad, as well.

[@mikacourt8898]

@@johnleebold8894 It's important to remember how Varoufakis began his talk, discussing how this is not a situation of global competition between nations but rather class warfare within nations. It's important, also, to remember that these supply chains are already breaking due to covid-19...so the contradictions in these capitalist markets are already crashing down. The question is will the answer come from fascistic state power in the hands of a few corporations or will we democratize markets.

[@thetawaves48]

"Profits" can only be realized by slavery or exploitation of natural resources.

[@frankie6655]

@@johnleebold8894 a lot of the reshoring of manufacturing will be (and already is) because of automation combined with rising wages in the third world i think

[@sonjak8265]

Correction: The earliest joint-stock company recognized in England was the Company of Merchant Adventurers to New Lands, chartered in 1553 with 250 shareholders. Muscovy Company, which had a monopoly on trade between Moscow and London, was chartered soon after in 1555. The much more famous, wealthy and powerful English (later British) East India Company was granted an English Royal Charter by Elizabeth I on December 31, 1600, with the intention of favouring trade privileges in India.

[@112deeps]

Thank you, trying to learn about history of the Capitalism, market economy and fiscal monitory and modern monitory systems. None of the system is sound considering there is not cycling of waters naturally like oceanic climatic water circulation with rains rivers etc. It is massively top heavy!

[@briandbeaudin9166]

Great presentation. I think that your ideas could greatly improve the global economic situation. But how can we ever implement such ideas when leaders, politicians, populaces and governments appear to be tending toward ever more irrational thoughts, programs and actions. Fear and emotion rules and inequality reigns supreme

[@alexanderclaylavin]

Strong discussion. I met this guy at the Sanders thing in 2018 and he was very cordial. This podcast is likely not anything new to most of us, but well distilled. Looks like we need to jump on that Progressive International! I also was impressed by Richard Duncan's work on a world wage floor, another interesting approach to global working class politics.

[@patshelby9285]

Sounds good. A world wage floor would make it hard for anyone to move with costs of labor his excuse.

[@markuspfeifer8473]

There’s one economist in Germany who acknowledges that deflation, not inflation brought Hitler to power: Heiner Flassbeck. He also has other interesting things to say. Please have him at some point.

[@bhangrafan4480]

It was deflation following the Great Depression I thought. This was followed by Nazi inflation which boosted the economy.

[@lillianjones1156]

Thanks for the suggestion

[@martynfenton4862]

Inflation was the policy to essentially wipe our reparations debt of WW1 AND this led to the popularity of the NAZIs

[@xyzsame4081]

@@martynfenton4862 France invaded a part of Germany to enforce the payment of the reparations (steel and coal region). Germany had been forced to reduce their military substantially so they could not hinder them. The railway workers left the jobs (which made it harder for the french, their systems worked differently). The German government fully paid those railway workers and they had to print that money as well.

[@xyzsame4081]

@@martynfenton4862 plus the government also ignored promising experiments with alternative currencies (Waera), or rather the central bank shut it down.

[@daphneemanuel9555]

Yannis Varoufakis should be influencing global economies. He saw what potential Bernie Sanders had to shape an intelligent US economic landscape. The two thinkers are a powerful force.-

[@mizofan]

Sanders has sold out. Party before the people.

[@marypritchett115]

mizofan Not willingly. Covid caused a different set of circumstances and priorities shifted. Keep hope alive.

[@ChristopherVickers]

He did, then he was forced out. He was the Minister of Finance. Bernie is weak as s**t. He should have won the democratic nomination, yet he was happy to accept the money and sit there quietly. The only reason Trump won, was because the Democrats stole the nomination from Bernie. I know a lot of people here don't like trump but at least he's been trying to bring back jobs and both the Rebublican old guard and the Democrats hate him, which to me, makes him the best one

[@swordscythe]

Yanis Varoufakis is incredibly insightful. Sadly there is no way to aptly communicate the extent of his philosophy to the political institutions of neoclassical priesthood, let alone all the people who actually matter, those who have no time for economic studies.

[@art-hx6hq]

I was also thinking about why do we have armored doors at our houses and keep all our money in another persons house (bank), it is quite silly when you can not even withdraw your money in a day if you have a lot of money. It almost seems as if bankers build their palaces with our money and the "we invest your money" part is a myth.

[@TheMaddav]

This algorithm is not so good at distinguishing between human hair and dolphin skin.

[@mary-janeowen8238]

🤣😂😅

[@voidvox]

LOL. I was going to say something about that. He really needs to change that background or put on a bright orange wig,

[@yingkleung1907]

The hair is rather distractive. I couldn't help laughing when I saw his hair!

[@Eric-zl1kn]

@@yingkleung1907 can you tell me what I'm missing lol?

[@adjusted-bunny]

It was all done on purpose. They engaged some Hollywood special effects people to spice the video up.

[@matmacmillan5147]

Would be interested to hear Yanis thoughts on a Universal Basic Income.

[@NS-pj8dr]

from my understanding he supports the idea of a "universal basic divided" which is similar, but funded from stock dividends rather than taxes. He thinks if its funded by taxes it will create a division amongst people between those who have jobs and are working and paying, via taxes, for people without jobs to survive. Instead, a universal basic dividend takes the capital growth of major corporations and investments (many of which rely on technology developed in the public sector), and puts that growth in a wealth fund, and distributes that value equally in the form of direct check. I think its a beautiful idea - its essentially a return on the investment made by the public and distribute them amongst the public. The public has done their part, we have funded government research in technology for a century now, the government sold the patents of those technologies to private companies, who sell those products back to us. Corporations and hedge funds have benefitted immensely, its time for the public to see a return on its investment.

[@Rasmajnoon]

Its gulagesque,anywhere you practice that

[@beatrix2803]

I heard him suggesting it in an interview on Al Jazeera...

[@johnvaughan7096]

His comment that "to have properly functioning markets we need to end capitalism" is a concept I have given to all my students in 30 years at world-rated business schools. Whoever got you to believe that Capitalism is about free markets has been pulling the wool over your eyes for long enough. Remove it and open them!

[@jabel6434]

John Vaughan , Whom are you addressing here by "you", Vroufakis or the readers of your comment?

[@spike9314]

the key word here is "buisiness school teacher"

[@johnvaughan7096]

@@jabel6434 Since I'm agreeing with Yanis, I guess it is for the world, i.e. anyone who would like to consider it.

[@johnvaughan7096]

@@spike9314 You say "the key word" but then put 3 words, one, 'teacher', which I didn't, and never, use and another incorrectly spelled. Please let me know what you wanted to say as I am genuinely interested and like to learn from all over.

[@jabel6434]

John Vaughan : "...need to end capitalism..." Yes, those working "on site" are less likely to get confused by economists. But for those who can play the business game and win most of the time, the fantasy need not be terminated.

[@harshitpurohit2416]

I have exam tomorrow and I reluctantly opened the video of Yanis and now my syllabus is incomplete but my knowledge of our world has increased.

[@kodoy]

I think when the younger masses of world superpowers finally become web savvy enough to escape the social media algorithms and echo chambers, and learn the true nature of their class struggle on the internet - change may truly be kickstarted. Then, everything might finally happen as Yanis is describing. I just hope this happens before it's too late.

[@sidlee3118]

Which is precisely why a massive project is underway by Google and Eric Schmidt to censor and monopolize the internet, to control the flow and accessibility of dissenting information. :(

[@tranzco1173]

It will never happen. Bread and circuses. Greed and vanity. The empire never died

[@HillbillyHippyOG]

I can’t pronounce his name, but I can’t help but think his name will be well known to my progeny. THIS combining of ideas to create a better world for all will be where the solutions are found. Bravo!

[@Larkinchance]

Yanis!, I've been looking all over for the “job creators” but I can't find them.. Someone told me that are down in the Caymans...

[@twinfishfour]

Nothing counts if there is going to continue to be asymmetric information. Nothing counts if there is not going to be transparency and disclosure. Competition is based on superior information, but rules must level the playing field or corruption and entrenched power (for example generational inequality) take us in the direction of serfdom. If there had been no industrial revolution, no information revolution, no electronic age, the issues of centralization and decentralization would be framed differently, but society and its environment and supply chains have been utterly transformed. We are also moving out of a fossil fuel age into something else that is largely unknown. Democracy, neoconservatism and neoliberalism are probably somewhat irrelevant except they now represent imbalances that are unsustainable. There are huge efforts to maintain asymmetrical access to information, to suppress access to information that could and should be released to the public domain but is not. Also to control the narrative to one that benefits an elite or multiple elites. This is really, right here, the crux of the matter. This is the bastille that needs to be stormed. Assange is one of the poster boys for this issue. Aaron Swartz (November 8, 1986 - January 11, 2013 is/was another. What happened recently in Bolivia or Hong Kong or the West Bank or Syria or Libya, the list is too long, are object lessons in the consequences, which will come home to roost at the center of empire.

[@Camcolito]

'We don't need private banking' - Wow, and amen.

[@markskinner7379]

This bloke is one smart cookie. His grasp of English and slang is great.

[@elizabethdjokovic2691]

He's such a smart cookie. He's passionate about a subject he has explored in great depth and this is probably what makes him so interesting and worth listening to.

[@nonfictionone]

I would prefer he was discussing this stuff with someone who is as far to the right as he is to the left. Or perhaps more accurately with one of the men that form the small club that own all the financial assets in the world. But they wouldn’t come out and talk. They believe we need leading, by them.

[@rattylol]

I could listen to Yanni for hours, I hope he never gets tired of talking.

[@brianmi40]

Yanni is a Greek musician. Yanis is ex minister of Greek Finance.

[@ursulakyne7020]

@@brianmi40 you may

[@grantanderson1524]

Didn’t Greece have some of the worst financial management in Europe? Why the hell does anyone listen to this guy. And they crashed because of entitlements. This is like listening to the captain of the Exxon Valdez talk about reforming maritime captain training.

[@brianmi40]

@@grantanderson1524 Nice attempt to conflate unrelated things far apart in time: Greece's economic crisis was in 2007. Yannis was named Minister of Finance in 2015. Maybe you also thought Jesus personally approved of The Crusades??

[@grantanderson1524]

I was there in 2013 buying half a shop with $20. Let me reframe then. If Greece was a US state it would be ranked 23rd between Missouri and Connecticut. You know what centrally planned economies get you? 45,000,000 dead Chinese. And their government still in power. No. Socialism is cute and it ignores human nature. At any time in a free society people can create a commune and see how garbage his ideas are. Politics of envy.

[@louisehoff9467]

this has been such an interesting and hopeful conversation and explanation. thank you both so very much!

[@christianquintino8103]

Absolutely ......2008 crisis and 2020 will be ONE in history books in 2100 , this is a consequence a sequence of unsupportable debt levels.

[@JohnSmith-vm8rx]

Awesome interview! Janis Varufakis is great! If only we had a government that listened to him.

[@tbb4023]

This was absolutely superb!

[@AudioPervert1]

DiEM is finished. It is just another charity based, propaganda based, agenda based hierarchical organization. Yanis V and his team of populist agents at DiEM never answer to public query at an individual level. Instead they dish out Green New Deals and hoodwink promises of a better future - Much like their opponents do. 10 Years ago Yanis V was making some sense. Now it sounds like a loop, inside yet another institutional regressive mindset. Europe and european countries need local, regional, and grassroot changes. DiEM and Yanis still believe in the flawed system of fake-democracy.

[@WiseandVegan]

This is also a very important video that should be seen by many, it explains the deepest links and what went wrong (short animation): kzbin.info/www/bejne/e33NmIepbKd5eZY

[@AudioPervert1]

@SpinazFou one can teleconferencia with as many people possible and also work hard .. yet when the agenda and loyalty is flawed, is defective and is not based o no resistance - what good is It ? At the end of every DiEM newsletter theres always a donation button. You think it works to save Europe? From itself?

[@AudioPervert1]

@@AmandaBlondie007 i follow and listen to Jacobin. It's mostly american left wing ideology or bickering about assholes in the republican party. They have zero tangible solutions to any of the burning issues in america.

[@AudioPervert1]

@@dotTomdotcom thanks for your reply. To me Yanis V is just another bad leader with bad ideas .. and the text book bit is spot on. Populism makes such characters cool for a few years at best.

[@peaceizaverb2582]

FANTASTIC INTERVIEW! Truly brilliant thinking!

[@cambriawellness3102]

I don't see why Europe couldn't have a sovereign currency, where they can correct the value of their currency to production, (or to the value of their preservation or conservation, a new concept, but one Rockerfeller is mounting). I think they need a representative Parliment, and a Constitution. When they do, give mothers and fathers more value when they birth and nurture a child a few children, and not in terms of becoming a mercenary or soldier.

[@MIOLAZARUS]

THANK YOU! Beautiful conversation. Yanis is a hero

[@costasyiannourakos6963]

Do you think that politicians of strong militarily nations will ever work or make decisions to the benefit of economics or the entire world? The quality standards of our politicians is not encourageing for such dreams.

[@catherinebrown1902]

Very glad that you have developed an eclectic approach - closed system thinking needs to be challenged and you are doing it in an interesting and engaging way. This is like a good Socratic dialogue

[@karora]

"Bankers have a very clear loophole: never lend money to people who actually need it." - brilliant.

[@teresabarnes-matych]

andrew mcmillan, what a brilliant idea! Why didn’t I think of that? Because I have No Money to lend! No Money Left, here! It must have gone somewhere and to Someone!

[@karora]

@Tarzan As it happens, yes, I lend to very many poor and disadvantaged people through www.kiva.org/ - these people often only need very small amounts, and the risk to me is very low, and is also shared among others. I think the system works very well, and if the money comes back (which it mostly does) then I lend it out again. If the money comes back, I sigh and feel sorry for the person who was unable to pay it back, and hope that it has improved their life anyway.

[@GregoryWonderwheel]

I object to the phrase "socialism" for the rich because it misinforms about what socialism is. It is an oxymoronic phrase. When the rich use government to enrich themselves further it is NOT socialism, it is fascism. It is the opposite of socialism.

[@466chalk]

"The Nationalist International". I've heard many terms for this, but this one is my favorite!

[@donkeypoison]

Nice that someone agrees with me that capitalism is the opposite of free market. Capitalism is a wealth _accumulation_ system while free market is a wealth _sharing_ system.

[@francisfeeley3538]

Very clear presentation on the conditions of contemporary capitalism. Thank you for it. One caveat, however: It has been my position that all wars are class wars, to the extent that the ruling class controls them for it's private profits and again exploits the working class in the production of destruction by disarming them ideologically and alienating them from any possibility of attaining the only hope that exists to achieve power over their own lives, i.e. diplomacy. The exit from this condition of pathetic domination lies within us, the working class and it's allies; not with the capitalist class and their thugs.

[@mizofan]

The exploiters play divide and rule, scapegoating foreigners, immigrants, using identity politics, turning one group against another when they should be united against the class war perpetuated by the rich.

[@Orf]

30:30 main point. If we don’t deflate asset prices...and if we corporations are going to collapse.

[@PopDeek23]

Yanis' ideas are beautiful! I particularly swooned when he spoke of a non-systemic eclectic approach to economic thinking.

[@brandonbagwell7676]

An oddly refreshing take on '08. I enjoy the paradigm and framing that he sets up. I never thought to express it that way, but definitely a good perspective.

[@thornhedge9639]

Yanis, I have nothing but respect for you and your work. That being said: The fiction that is the entire financial system seems an unnecessary creature that serves only centralization of everything into the hands of it's Creators. Democracy is in fact the last historical step prior to Totalitarianism, which today looms as a centralized global system which seeks to (Through digital technology) micromanage the biological, physical, and human capitol assets of the whole world. I for one prefer the dissolution of the entire fiasco that the fictional system represents, and instead relying upon decentralization of all our systems into small local/earth friendly self contained though mutually supportive communities of peoples. More centralization will only lead the sooner to all of our Destruction. Which is the whole purpose of their green new deal! Austerity for all! And Roosevelt was a tool.....

[@higgleopss]

He says that we have a choice to make if we want dystopia or postcapitlism as if its in the future tense. Were getting a dystopia, its over.

[@prognosis8768]

Was anyone else's first thought when seeing this video "Is that man wearing a dolphin on his head?"

[@karimtabrizi376]

yes me too lol

[@yank196101]

Its al the rage in Paris.

[@josephvergara97]

Wow I'm sorry that dolphin background is ridiculous. Check out how the introducer's hair goes straight up like a cartoon. But thank you Yanis.

[@johnleebold8894]

You always argue about big business but they relatively employ a small proportion of the total workforce ... This is a bigger problem for small business which employs most people

[@Notecrusher]

The numbers they employ are not the issue, it's the power they wield. Apple and amazon have relatively small workforces but spectacularly outsized power and wealth.

[@the_earth_mystic]

Wow this is critical to my understanding of why our economy is declining...always so illuminating Yanis!

[@arthurmarolf2190]

we have not have capitalism for at least 15 years - we have state 'capitalism where the FED ECB decides the cost of money etc - (state socialism Do you like the result ?

[@abrambadal8997]

@@PaperRadishes Yes we have a new hybrid capitalism that I call Fictitious Kapitalism , consolidated after decoupling money and gold , in 1971, and creation of State-Banks privatising people's public and common's ownerships and over-ruling all real capitals and taxes and real economy ! Therefore banks are allowed under Regional Central Banks to create money without gold reserves , but R.C.B.'s sponsorship , and thus allowed to be above all laws and constitutions after 1979 , banking deregulation ! They possess now all profits , in majority outside national borders and out of rich of states, and their losses become our public national debts , but their ownerships thus are increasing constantly and in accelerated periods of ' quantitative easings ' enriching even more F.K.'s ownership in jumps and leaps , in contrast to relative shrinking of private popular and private ownerships transferred to accumulation of a majority increasing F.K. and a diminishing real ownership for people and their rights !

[@PauloSilva111]

changed to where? Jacque Fresco's resource based economy?

[@markuspfeifer8473]

Yanis, the point of having intermediary banks is that central banks have no idea if you need another pizzeria in your town; your local bank might know. How about that: let’s organize banks as co-ops as well. The banks where you put your deposits and where you request a loan to build a house are owned by the local community, banks that grant loans to industrial co-ops are owned collectively by the industrial co-ops. That way, power is nicely distributed to those who are concerned by the decisions made by the banks rather than to complete outsiders.

[@leaccordion]

A back to the basic roots. In Quebec we have "Les Caisses Populaire Desjardins" of which I am a member and occasionally receive an annual sort of dividend check, but of late it's beginning to smell more like a regular bank. But your idea is correct. 👍

[@dazpatreg]

I mean that's basically what the credit union movement was but its been progressively denuded as a cooperative force with the growing financialisation of the global economy

[@HeavyThunderMetal]

Fantastic video, Yanis is always great at speaking on economic issues

[@elizabethdjokovic2691]

"my pip squeak of a nation" I love it. And I live Greece.

[@Natallou55]

I love how economics can explain so much!

[@Camcolito]

'We need to be eclectic and like philosophers' - Said nobody in history prior to Yanis

[@Madonnalitta1]

Many have said this. Plato said that mankind would be free when we have philosopher kings.

[@Camcolito]

@@Madonnalitta1 It was a joke, I have a philosophy background. And actually Plato cared much less about freedom than order.

[@Orf]

29:00 no connection?

[@RevolutionaryThinking]

He's also for a Universal Basic Income.

[@calebs8279]

I saw a conversation between Andrew Yang and Mark Cuban; they mentioned the idea of UBI with a caveat of "use it or loose it". I would even except if there were some things that you could not spend the UBI money on. Say the company has to be a B Certified Corporation or no UBI money for their business... Just brainstorming.

[@RevolutionaryThinking]

@@calebs8279 Well now that there's a pandemic and the market needs circulation now more than ever but, then we should just switch to a regular UBI with out a use it or lose it clause.

[@worldeconomicforumbarbie9323]

@@RevolutionaryThinking We just ALLOW central banking where all money is controlled and by the top 1 percent, while people like Bezos, with his CIA owned Amazon, give you "allotment " in spending. The RNA is a deviant way of controlling your emotions. Ever seen the Matrix? Plug in, plug out? Every type of freedom that falls in creativity is being snuffed out. Family is being snuffed out. They are all acting like psychopaths.

[@aleksandarpetkovic5734]

@Gamias Thsmanassou Basic divident is apsolutely logical think. Average person as a consumer of goods and services (food, internet apps, etc) contribute to the creation of new value. The good or service can not have value without consumption (demand).

[@TTBOn00bKiLleR]

for someone who doesn't know how the feds work or the central bank, but wouldn't that make them able to also withdraw funds from your accounts if there is no third party? what if the state is authoritarian?

[@egorkotkin]

I’m very interested how Progressive International is going.

[@merfymac]

It needs an MLK or a John Lennon. Being correct isn't enough to win votes in a pluto-democracy.

[@egorkotkin]

Mer Fyu We have a Hulk - Bernie.

[@noahhanser-young5077]

What does Yanis say at 38:15? What is Bretton Woods or Burton Woods?

[@abrambadal8997]

Coongratulations Yanis , I reached that idea after 2008 ' crisis ' : EXIT CAPITALISM ! Let's create Open Social Political Global Universities , networking the Earth , New and Completed Human Rights , Directe Democracy for local to Global Congress , Open & Transparent Management , Social Status for all according and in proportion to their Social Hourly -- Quality ( A, B, C, ..... activity noted in team-works ) used also as a new means of social distribution of world networks , named also as good ' social credit ' to be transparent and make General Global Interest of Earth security , Ecology to prevail groupe interests or regional interests ( A true Socialism , that will be inverted Financial Fascism ruling today thru State--Banks making fascism grow all over the five continents ! )

[@theeclecticjam3241]

How many times did you end up editing , by chance ???

[@fenditenhoeve4527]

Correction for Varoufakis: The Dutch East India Co. (VOC Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie) holds the distinction of being the first company to offer shares of its business to the public, effectively conducting the world's first initial public offering (IPO). It also played an integral role in modern history's first stock market crash.

[@karlp8484]

Do really want "Greek economics minister" on your CV?

[@NG-dc2pk]

Lol

[@georgeloizou1090]

Certainly. Why wouldn’t you?

[@georgeloizou1090]

Without elaborating your question it could be construed as racist...

[@karlp8484]

@@georgeloizou1090 Google Greek economy.

[@LazzarL]

Google belongs to USA

[@jeebus6263]

Green shirt and green hair in front of a green screen? Edit, thsnks for not interrupting and letting him speak!

[@RedSyrup66]

Jeebus Christ. His shirt matches the background though.

[@jmitterii2]

"Only way to fix markets is to end capitalism." "What a remarkable paradox." There is no paradox. Capitalism, at least this economic system, is insufferably inefficient. And markets have been around well before our version of capitalism, a more defined labeled I would call financialization or corporatism... pick your descriptor. And that's the cunning work of propaganda at play. Our current economic system: capitalism, financialization, corporatism, whatever label descriptor you want to put to it has imaged itself as if it's the economic system that birthed markets. Markets predate recorded civilizations. Barter markets, slave markets, feudal markets, mercantile markets, financialization markets, patronage markets, etc. etc. All economies had a market. An economy literally deals with a market (the exchange of goods and services among individuals). Just as conflated capitalism as the only system that had money, currency, debt obligations, etc. This is nothing new in any form of economic systems. Our current system did not invent anything new. It's not amazing nor great.... it was simply an advancement on some of the more immoral and unstable economic systems (in which it can also live within so doesn't necessarily mean the complete end of and as we can see the rebirth of a type of feudalism) and contradictory systems of barter, slavery, feudalism, mercantilism, patronage, etc.

[@robertmacdonnell258]

A man well worthy of the name. One of the great minds of our time.

[@jayofman]

Decentralised blockchains and localised technology hardware is key to redistribution of ownership of assetts, land and natural resources. We are only enslaved by manaufactured consent and engineered scarcity. Capitalism feeds off scarcity, obsolescence and waste as they are all products of centralised controls

[@karatsurba4791]

Thank you for this session. I hope Yanis would elaborate how countries got so intertwined with Wall Street & recycling profits.

[@eddasturrup4912]

THIS IS MY THIRD TIME ....... THIS MAN IS STRAIGHT FORWARD....... EVERY TIME.... I LISTEN TO HIS LECTURES I LEARN SOMETHING AGAIN.....

[@lorrainewest7408]

Mr Yanis another educated hero of the world. Strong, brave, truth teller. It appears that economic warfare is going on against the interests of the masses of people worldwide. A teacher of economics for the unlearned.

[@glintinggold]

Thank you for your informative discussion!!!

[@relocatetoEUROPE]

Great interview pity Yannis sound was so low level you can barely hear it

[@zockerbit1030]

3:06 Notification sound? Not the only one during the interview and extremely disturbing. More with same problem? How to get rid of it? Or is it in the recording? I have checked the notifications sounds and everything is off. Also checked with other browsers. Or is is KZbin hating Varoufakis :)

[@urduib]

That is Yanis Varoufakis´s own notification on his PC in the background

[@zockerbit1030]

@@urduib thanks :).......drives me crazy still but I will give it a new chance

[@MIDixons]

I believe and have taught my kids that the measure of the advancement of a culture is collective ownership. The services and assets we collectively control and provide to each other are the advancements, not technology or riches. Libraries, police, fire and rescue, Internet and the like are advancements to our collective benefit. If we move banking to decentralized block chain banking, another advancement to the benefit of society as a whole. Yanis, you're brilliant as always. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us. We're better as a whole because of it.

[@trickdawg5521]

The greatest concentrations of wealth are not near distribution centers of products and services but of banks and financial instutions.

[@danielscheinhaus5210]

That's what is called financialization -- fi nan cial iz a tion.

[@AB-xq2iy]

In 2008, the flow of money into the financial sector and to the corporations exacerbated the already existing trend of small businesses losing their place of business: all over New York City for example corner delis, grocery stores, diners, etc., who were already suffering from liquidity problems when the crisis started, were losing their locations to corporate chain stores. And strangely enough as real estate values went down a bit in New York City, commercial rents started rising at a rate unseen before 2008. One of the reasons for such hikes was the discrepancy between the rising real estate values in the City prior to the 2008 crisis and the income from said properties - the rent paid. the owner of a one bedroom apartment on the upper east side, who was getting 1250$ monthly in rent for a property worth (in 1994) 70K, thought to have a nice income of 20% on the investment. but when a few years later the market value of the same property had risen to 350K even a higher rent of 2000$ didn't seem to provide adequate income (about 7% income). But of course such calculations rely of the somewhat distorted perception of property values at the time of a real estate bubble and further distort (such calculations) the perception of financial and investment reality. At the same time - a time of deflation - for some reason food prices kept going up after 2008 as if calculated according of (a non-existent) rise in inflation. One of the reasons why store owners kept raising product prices after 2008 was probably a reflection of the rise in commercial rents - their rent was rising at an alarming rate, and short of closing down and leaving the neighborhood they raised the prices of the products they were selling to make up for the higher rents. Now the rise in the price of essential products such as food and household items, and other commodities such as clothing, these higher prices, had the appearance of an inflationary trend, when in fact they reflected only the higher rates of commercial rents, higher rates that were triggered by the miscalculated rental income based on the real estate bubble pricing of said commercial properties. this vicious cycle went on for at least ten whole years, and completely changed the urban landscape. The really inadequate leaders of the financial world resigned themselves to looking at the commercial landscape after 2008 as a mildly inflation environment (due to the rising cost of living) not understanding the full impact and nature of Deflation after 2008, and allowed this farce to further ruin the financial stability of the middle class. and of course during this time personal savings were not yielding any income because of very low interest rates on savings, and good old middle class families had to resort to try their luck at day-trading on the stock market to generate a modest income. And this goes on and on.

[@korasproductions]

That right there folks, is the most accurate analysis of the "crash" you can get. When we throw these theories around, we gotta stick to what actually happens in the real world.

[@AB-xq2iy]

@@korasproductions thank you Kenneth

[@AniishAu]

"huge inequality is the other side of the coin of high (over-valued) asset prices" (29:29). I didn't feel like he explained the connection here. Is he saying the distortions financialisation has created in the economy leading to high asset prices are also responsible for the 'soul-destroying' dead-end over-demanding jobs because financialisation has perpetuated _non-productive investment_ (ie failed to "turn savings into investment") ? ie Financialisation has perpetuated zombie companies that are unable to stimulate wealth and prosperity?

[@cemkandemir8069]

Michael Pettis, Atif Mian/Amir Sufi and Richard Werner explain the 3 perspectives on this

[@cemkandemir8069]

Also, Michael Hudson

[@AniishAu]

@@cemkandemir8069 thanks, I love Hudson, and I'll check out the others. My favourite Hudson interview is kzbin.info/www/bejne/nnmcoa2wfq54oJY

[@chantlive24]

Great Talk - Thank you

[@robertburns6579]

43,59 when he is talking about banking, when i worked for RBS years ago we used to have a saying " A friend in need is no friend of mine"

[@seanwarren9357]

Should be above the point of entry to every bank.

[@tomasinacovell4293]

I believe that greenscreen backdrop is a hack.

[@karakoshka]

A very concrete question: Varoufakis proposes abolishing private banking: in the total absence of competition, what will be the mechanism to force the monopolist central bank to offer the public improving rather deteriorating services (loans, savings etc)

[@jayofman]

What if instead of everyone gathering to protest against companies use the equivalent amount of money that would have been spent to travel to all collectively to buy shares in a community trust?

[@emilysevastou5075]

This is a golden documentary contains a lot of information for and from different pillars of the modern economy.Just brilliant every one must see😊🤭🤔

[@renzotoglia]

Can't this all be condensed to just say that profits are going in personal pockets instead of into company reinvesting to grow?

[@mechabits197]

Who do we have to 'take out' in order to fix things?

[@johnburman966]

Watched a documentary about Louis 16th of France. How all the rentier class of nobility refused to change, refused to contribute and finally had to be removed. There are parallels.

[@user-qc8vj3vp9v]

Yanis is a very smart man - so articulate.🤗🤗👍🏼👍🏼👊👊

[@Camcolito]

Lose the background! Otherwise A+.

[@Orf]

14:00 doesn’t make sense to blame other countries

[@Screaming-Trees]

It's kind of terrifying. There seems to be no scenario under which the mind rebels. Everyone just steps through the templates for living provided for them.

[@benetaue]

There was a time when negative loan covenants provided some degree of protection from irresponsible corporate behavior. NOW MOSTLY NONEXISTENT. Scene one act one.Borrow buy stock exercise options. Act three closing scene. We are unable to extend and pretend.Cram down. No problem all executives in Panama

[@benetaue]

SHOLOCKS REVENGE?

[@Achrononmaster]

@11:00 this is not true. Trade deficit countries (net importers) in the eurozone are indeed "condemned" to credit bubbles and eventual debt-deflation. But a sovereign currency economy is not. In a currency sovereign nation the government has unlimited spending capacity to eliminate private debt bubbles, should it so choose, and thus entirely prevent any such "condemning" (the neolib problem is they often _choose_ not to!). The cost of preventing such credit bubbles is a potentially lower exchange rate if exports are not sufficient to offset the imports, but that eventually equilibrates until exports get stronger permitting more imports without exchange rate depreciation. Your problem is eurocentric, it is because the ECB is not as powerful as the central bank of other nations, it has no fiscal injection power.

[@adambohm4367]

Is it still possible to invest savings with severe regulatory capture that exists by the private banks?

[@johnnyjimj]

The only power We The People have is to control policy through how we spend our meager funds and although our voice is nothing compared to the voice of a billionaire, they won't even allow us to chose how to spend the little we have. Just look at anti BDS regulations and see how far the tyranny has grown. There is no more Effective Democracy in America as there is in North Korea.

[@carlwilson8859]

Much appreciated. With respect to banking replaced by central bank individual accounts. A great deal of banking operation can be run on an "automatic" basis but there is also a problem of to whom are loans made.